Dr. William Scherlis

Biography

William L. Scherlis is a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University, where he serves as a special advisor to the Software Engineering Institute, a Department of Defense Federally Funded Research and Development Center. From September 2019 to 2022, he was the director of DARPA's Information Innovation Office (I2O), overseeing the development of programs in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, secure software, and information operations. Following this, he served as a special assistant to the DARPA Director starting in September 2022. Scherlis has been honored with the DARPA Superior Public Service Medal and has had a significant career as a federal program manager within the Senior Executive Service at DARPA, where he developed programs focusing on software technology and computer security, among other areas. He played a key role in initiating the High Performance Computing Communications program and defining concepts related to CERT-like security organizations. Scherlis received a Senior Executive Service Performance Award during his tenure. He completed his undergraduate degree in applied mathematics at Harvard, was a John Knox Fellow at the University of Edinburgh, and earned a doctorate in computer science from Stanford. His research interests encompass software assurance, cybersecurity, software analysis, and assured safe concurrency. He is a Life Fellow of IEEE and a Lifetime National Associate of the National Academy of Sciences.

Research Interests